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#836 “Clyde Fans” reviewed by two fans
In Clyde Fans by Seth, two brothers run a fan company for fifty years. One might expect it to be prosaic, but instead it’s an immersive and epic exploration of the sense and meaning of life, every life, even when it’s not apparent on the surface. Kumar and Dana ask the big questions.
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#835 “Raised by Ghosts”: A time capsule, but relevant to anyone who’s been a teen
Briana Loewinsohn, who got a lot of praise two years back for her graphic memoir Ephemera, is back with a new book, Raised by Ghosts. It’s a slightly fictionalized look at Briana’s teen years, acting as both a time capsule of late-20th-century teenager culture, and the struggles of being comfortable with oneself that ‘s almost synonymous with the word “teenager.” This week an interview with Briana about her new book, and then Tim and Jason review it.
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#834 Jack Kirby’s “Cap and Falcon” vs a bodybuilding corpse
What’s that Kirby Crackle octopus chasing Cap and Falcon? And didn’t it used to be an oddly muscular, bald (naturally) corpse? It’s Agron, who gives our heroes some headaches in Captain America and the Falcon issues 204 and 205. Not the best Jack Kirby Cap adventure ever, but it produces at least one wildly T-shirt-worthy panel! Tim and Emmet discuss.
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#833 Jack Kirby’s “Cap and Falcon” 201-203: Who are “the Night People”?
The Night People are looking for a superhero. But who are the Night People? Where do they come from? And what does one have to sacrifice to become their superhero? Tim and Emmet discuss Captain America and the Falcon issues 201-203!
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#832 Michael Cohen: Comics price guides, “Peanuts”, and more
Michael Cohen has created comics such as Strange Attractors and Tangled River, and is credited with helping to create the first known comic book price guide. He’s also co-host of the Unpacking Peanuts podcast, and his talk with Tim includes discussion of Charles Schulz’s strip, including about the reason why Michael has no interest in Peanuts animation!
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#831 The Fantastic Four on Film: “Fantastic Four” (2005) pt 2: What does Doom want?!
While the 2005 film Fantastic Four gives us, debatably, a well-casted group of heroes, with plenty of comics-accurate details, the script does no favors to Dr. Doom. What are his goals, other than “taking everything back” from Reed? Why is he a CEO instead of a despot? Who the heck gives a frightening metal mask as a thank-you gift?? This time, Tim, Kumar, and Jordan (in a crossover with the Comic Book Movie Oblivion podcast) conclude their look at this film, and cap it off with a review of its endless development process.
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Critiquing Comics #242 “The Star Tide Shores” vol. 1
The Star Tide Shores is an action space adventure comic that isn’t afraid to get a little deeper emotionally than, say, Star Wars. Tim and Adam enjoyed reading the first volume, by Henry Goeldner and Illuminated, and are here to give you the scoop.
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#830 The Fantastic Four on Film: “Fantastic Four” (2005) pt 1: “I am hot, and I’m not afraid to cry”
After the fiasco of the 1994 unreleased Fantastic Four movie, development proceeded on a big-budget FF film, which finally hit theaters in 2005 — a better film than the ’94 attempt in some ways, but frustratingly as bad or worse in others. This week, in another crossover with the Comic Book Movie Oblivion podcast, Tim is joined by Kumar and Jordan to begin a two-part look at this film (as well as a few 1980s FF comics).
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#829 Jack Kirby’s “Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles”
Captain America was the obvious choice of a character to help Marvel celebrate the USA’s bicentennial in 1976. The job of doing that went to Jack Kirby, co-creator of the character. Naturally, that meant a story full of hard-hitting moments, and one that gets a bit treacly at the end, but also doesn’t back away from difficult moments in US history. This week, Tim and Emmet discuss the treasury-size special Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles.
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#828 Japan’s mythical “oni” in manga
Oni are mythical monsters similar to the ogres of Western tradition. Like many of the legendary Japanese creatures, their characteristics are often adopted for manga characters, including series such as Lum, The Promised Neverland, and Demon Slayer. Our own Patrick has compiled a lot of data on them, and he’s here this time to fill us in. He also discusses the main points of monster theory.
Watch Patrick’s videos on oni and other Japanese creatures
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